There are only winners at the convention, where each participating class gets a copy of the latest Skiddy the Snowman book from convention founder Mike Behnke. The display includes many wonderful entries from local schools, imaginative variations on a snowman theme that celebrate art or - in some fashion - science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Yet no entry is quite as powerful as the "snow angels" from McKinley-Brighton Elementary School. They were created by the 10-to-12-year-olds in the self-contained special education class of teacher Dan Lounsbery. A year ago, the class focused on a theme that involved snowmen as great inspirational speakers, such as Gandhi or Ben Franklin.

The children did their research. They began the time-consuming process of making small figures from wads of paper, shaped and covered with Play-Doh. They 'hot glued' fabric onto each figure to serve as wings, and they used paper clips to create small halos.

They made 26 "snow angels," in memory of the innocent victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and they set them all in front of a big heart.

"The whole thing was eye-opening," Lounsbery said. "The goal was to take a news event and fit it into the context of their lives." In understanding what teachers at Sandy Hook were willing to sacrifice for their children, the pupils at McKinley-Brighton grew into a greater appreciation for their own school community.